A Day for You
by JPTorres26
Summary: *A Mother's Day-themed fic* Six years after the war, Yzak pays a visit to his mother, Ezalia, on Mother's Day. There, she reminds him about the more important people in his life now, his wife and daughter. YxS Future Fic


**Gundam SEED DESTINY Fanfiction**

**~A Day for You~**

**First and foremost, I'd like to say Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there! You've stuck with your children through everything, and you deserve every right to be honored not just for this day, but for every single day. This fic is for all the hardworking mothers out there. :)  
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Cosmic Era 79, six years since the second Bloody Valentine War, which ended with heavy losses from both the PLANT, and the Earth Alliance. Since then, PLANTs Chairwoman Lacus Clyne had taken over her late father Siegel Clyne's legacy, and continued to carry his beliefs of peaceful co-existence between Naturals and Coordinators. Along with her political counterpart on Earth, ORB Union's Head Representative, Cagalli Yula Attha, whose pacifistic ideals also take its roots from her late father, former ORB Head Representative, Lord Uzumi Nara Attha, they've established a peaceful bond between the Earth and the PLANT that many believe to be the final answer to the conflicts between Naturals and Coordinators.

To further solidify the harmonious co-existence between the two races, certain holidays were shared between them starting this year, and today was one of them. The second Sunday of May, widely celebrated as Mother's Day was a day to honor the mother's that had given birth to their children and raised them with love and care. On both Earth and PLANTs, people celebrated this day in their own special way.

"Happy Mother's Day, mother." Yzak Joule said as he handed his mother a velvet box. He had taken the day off to visit his mother, former councilwoman Ezalia Joule in their estate in Martius city. After the second war, all council members that were put under arrest on the final days of the first war were given pardon by Chairwoman Clyne herself, that included Ezalia, who was a member of Patrick Zala's radical party during the first war. Yzak couldn't be happier to be with his mother again.

Ezalia opened the box and found a silver wristwatch, she took it out and smiled as she wore it on her left hand "Thank you so much, dear." she said warmly "It really makes me happy to see you here, you know?"

"I'm happy to see you too, mother." said Yzak "How are you doing these days?" he asked

"Well, it's actually pretty sad to be with no one but the maids here in the house. I kind of feel alone, but still, being able to do things I wasn't able to when I was in office or in jail is a bit refreshing to say the least." replied Ezalia, who started typing on her laptop while taking glances of the fields beside the Joule estate that was seen from their balcony.

"I see you're writing another novel, I hope that goes well, mother." Ezalia had become quite a famous writer a year after she was given pardon.

Writing under a pen name, she seems to have found relief and inspiration from experiences and things around her. She had already become a writer of wide acclaim, as the two books she had published in four years both became best sellers, and now she's in the process of making a third. Yzak was actually happy to see that her mother has found something that doesn't involve war, as Ezalia was an aerospace engineer before she became Martius City's representative in the PLANT Supreme Council.

"Speaking of things going well," Ezalia started as she looked back at Yzak "how are you planning to celebrate Mother's Day with your family?" she asked

"Well, I actually haven't decided yet." admitted Yzak, a look of embarrassment flashed on his face "You see, Shiho insisted on coming to work today, and Dearka and his family are on ORB for a vacation, so I had to take Lizana with me here since I had no one to watch over her." just then, a little girl came running towards Ezalia and jumped on her lap.

"Happy Mother's Day, grandma!" said the girl as she hugged Ezalia.

"Oh, why thank you, Lizana." Ezalia said as she ran her hand through the girl's hair again and again "Have I told you that you look so much like your mother?" she asked. Just like how Yzak was with Ezalia, Lizana was the splitting image of her mother, Shiho Hahnenfuss. The five year old girl had pale skin like and the azure eyes of her father, and had the flowing auburn hair of her mother.

"You know, a lot of people have said the same, grandma." Lizana said as she looked up to Ezalia.

Ezalia chuckled "That's because you really do look like your mother." she said as she placed a kiss on the girl's forehead.

"In speaking of mother, she left so early today...that I didn't even get to say goodbye or happy mother's day to her." the little girl said as Ezalia looked at her again

"Hmm?" Ezalia's eyes widened and she immediately looked towards Yzak, who simply sighed and nodded "Maybe your mother really had work that she really, really needed to do." she said, she then took the girl by her arms and put her down on her feet "Lizana, why don't you go play with Nala for a while, I'm sure she's missed playing with you." she pointed to a white Maltese inside the house that happily wagged its tail as it looked at the little girl.

"Nala!" Lizana called out as she ran to hug the little dog, who jumped at her when she got near, tackling her down to the ground.

"She seems to be really fond of Nala." said Ezalia as she watched Lizana giggling on the ground while the dog continued to wag its tail and playfully licked her face

"Yes, she was actually excited to see her when I mentioned coming here." replied Yzak. He smiled as he looked at his daughter who enjoyed herself playing with his mother's pet.

"Now, as I was saying earlier..." Ezalia looked back to Yzak "don't you think Shiho's into work so much, I mean I know that being a head engineer for the ZAFT Weapons R&D department is hard work, but can't she at least leave Sundays free?" she asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice. It's not as she didn't like Shiho leaving no time for her family, that much she understood considering her line of work, but she had gotten so close to her daughter-in-law that not seeing her on a day that would honor both of them was what she found disappointing.

"That's what I was trying to tell her earlier, but she insisted that there was this new prototype she needed to finish as soon as possible." replied Yzak, his vocal expression mirroring his mother's. "She sounded really serious so I didn't press on further." he added

When Shiho and him married a year after the war, the military had to separate their assignment, as intimate relationships weren't allowed between soldiers of the same unit, and marriage was far beyond intimate. Knowing this, Shiho voluntarily relieved herself of her assignment on the Voltaire and was reassigned to Weapons R&D as their head weapons engineer due to her previous work of developing the weapons on the prototype CGUE DEEP Arms during the first war. Her work actually gave birth to the advanced technology installed on ZAFT's latest GOUF Ignited mobile suits, a unit that Yzak piloted during the last days of the war.

Ezalia sighed, realizing how much dedication Shiho had put in to her work to even forget her own special day as a mother. "Well, I guess you'll just have to come up with something before she gets home." she said

Yzak nodded and sighed as well, his mind still blank as to how he's going to celebrate Mother's Day with his wife and his daughter. _If you think about it, aren't the children supposed to be the ones planning for that? _He thought, then it suddenly hit him _Wait, the children of course! _His eyes beamed as he looked towards Lizana, who was seated on the sofa, petting the sleeping Nala on her lap. He then looked back to Ezalia "I think I have something in mind, but we're gonna have to go now." he said rather hesitantly.

Ezalia recognized the hesitation in her son's voice and waved him off "Oh don't mind me, Yzak, you're welcome here anytime." she said as she stood up and faced him, her left hand placed on his head. "Yzak, you have a family now, you should spend this special day with them." she said "I'm really happy to see you, son, you've grown so much." she smiled as she looked at his features, in the years that passed since he took a seat as the youngest PLANT council member in history, his face hasn't changed, but the look on his eyes have changed drastically since then. The look of confusion has turned into one of pure determination, plus his hot-headed attitude strangely disappeared over time and he became shockingly calm and collected. Ezalia knew what, or who had caused this change: his family.

"It's really good to see you after such a long time, mother." replied Yzak before kissing his mother gently on her cheek. He turned around and called Lizana "Lizana, we're going now, say goodbye to your grandma." he said. The little girl gently placed the sleeping dog on the sofa's armrests before she jumped off her seat and went to Ezalia.

"Goodbye grandma." Lizana said as she hugged her grandma Ezalia again.

"Bye bye Lizana, I'll see you again." replied Ezalia as she patted her granddaughter's head before she ran off to her father.

"By the way, Yzak." said Ezalia, which made Yzak stop midway and turn back to her "How did you know I wanted this one?" she asked as she flashed her left wrist that wore the silver watch.

Yzak smiled "I saw you looking at that one when we went shopping once." he said as he continued to walk out of the Joule estate, Lizana in tow.

* * *

At work, Shiho had received numerous Mother's Day greetings from her co-workers, who were aware of Lizana as she had actually brought her daughter to work on several occasions. She had actually forgotten about the special occasion, and was more than surprised to receive greetings wherever she passed by.

_So that's why Yzak badly wanted me to stay home, oh I better get this done soon!_ She mentally slapped herself for forgetting such an occasion.

Shiho was working on an operating system for a supply ZAKU prototype. Ever since the peace treaty between the PLANT and the Earth Alliance was signed, there has been a rapid decommissioning of mobile units, as both parties agreed upon the terms of reduced weapon presence. The still existing mobile weapons were now used for only patrol and defense purposes against rogue terrorist groups that opposed the peace treaty. The supply ZAKU prototype that the Weapons R&D department had proposed was something that would make trade between the PLANTs and the Earth easier, as these supply ZAKUs would be designed to either deliver supplies for teams that patrol on more distant locations or carry trading goods by the shipload all on their own, creating a trade route similar to what cargo ships on Earth use, albeit more efficient and faster.

The reason why she had decided to work today was because the prototype was scheduled for testing in three days, and they needed time to make sure the operating system synchronized well with the motor functions of the unit, and because she desperately wanted to get home as early as she can, she was working on overdrive mode. It paid off, and the operating system was completed in just three hours and in its first dry run, the mobile suit responded to the controls very well.

"Good job, Major Hahnenfuss! The OS is working very well with the unit." said Takashi, the chief engineer of the whole prototype.

"Thanks, I'm glad it turned out well on the first try. I guess I'll just work on fine tuning it later." replied Shiho. She was really glad that her first OS worked out well, and that only slight modifications needed to be done. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Takashi's hand when she looked. He flashed her a smile when she looked.

"Make that tomorrow, Major Hahnenfuss." he said, Shiho looked at him questioningly in response "It's Mother's Day today and you're here working your ass off for just a simple OS. Why don't you go on home now, I'm sure you'd been wanting to go home as soon as you can too." Takashi was also a renowned engineer, both for his skills and his demeanor around his workers. He's been observing Shiho work unnaturally fast for someone who's just programming an OS, and he was actually planning to let her go home regardless of the results of the tests.

"Thank you, sir." with that, Shiho went straight to the locker room to get her bag and headed straight to the parking lot, not even bothering to change out of her red uniform. When she arrived at the parking lot, she felt her phone vibrate from her pocket. Picking it up, she noticed she had a text message.

_From: Yzak_

_Lizana wanted to go the mall after visiting her _

_grandma, why don't you come with us after work? _

_I think we'll be staying here for a while._

She smiled as she pressed the keys to reply to Yzak's message.

_To: Yzak_

_I actually just got off work, chief Takashi let me_

_go home early. See you in a few._

Without another moment, Shiho got into her car and careened off the parking lot and onto the mall. After walking around the mall for an hour, Yzak sat Lizana in a nearby bench in the mall and bought her a scoop of strawberry ice cream. The girl happily licked away at her sweet treat, leaving her mouth area with a strawberry cream beard, seeing this, Yzak looked at her and circled a finger around his mouth, Lizana simply circled her tongue around in response. Yzak chuckled as he still saw cream under her lips, which he gently wiped off with his handkerchief.

"Is mom here yet?" the little Joule asked

"Nope, but don't worry, she'll be here soon" assured her father.

Shiho parked her car in the mall's parking lot and quickly shut off the car's engine. She was about to leave the car when she looked down and found herself still in her ZAFT red uniform. _I guess I was in a hurry too much _She sighed and formed a frown on her lips as she reached for her bag. She kicked off her white boots and placed them on the passenger side's mat then put on her sandals. She unbuttoned her upper uniform and hung it behind the driver seat before she put on her black jacket. Pulling down the sun visor, she looked at herself in the small mirror and smiled _ This should be enough_ she thought before she pulled the door lever and stepped out. She closed the door and pressed a button in her key remote that produced a _click _sound followed by the flashing of the hazard lights. She took her cellphone out from her pocket and browsed for Yzak's number, pressing the call button as she got to his name.

Yzak heard his cellphone ring and as he picked it out from his pocket, he saw that it was Shiho calling and immediately pressed the answer button as he held the receiver to his ear.

"_Yzak here."_

"_Yzak, it's me. I'm already at the mall, where are you?"_

"_We're at the benches on the second floor."_

The parking lot entrance to the mall was at the second floor, and Shiho looked around to find them when she saw Yzak's white, bob cut hair from a distance. She chuckled as she spoke _"I see you, honey, your hair is very unmistakable." _

Yzak got up from his seat and looked around him and saw Shiho walking towards them from the parking lot entrance _"Your figure is likewise." _he said before putting his phone down and pressing the red 'call end' button on his phone. He smiled as he looked at her walking towards them, he felt someone tugging at his shirt and when he looked he saw that Lizana was looking up at him while tugging at his shirt.

"Is mom here yet?" she asked, Yzak nodded and held the girl's hand as he walked towards Shiho. The little girl's eyes beamed when she saw her mother in the distance "Mom! Mom!" she waved her free hand. Shiho held her hand out and waved back, smiling warmly as she did.

"Go on now, dear." said Yzak as he let go of his daughter's hand as they got nearer to Shiho, the girl quickly ran up to her mom.

"Hey there!" Shiho took the running girl in her arms and quickly carried her in her arms, holding her by her waist with her right arm while she held the child's legs with her left arm. "How are you, sweetie? Have you been good to grandma Ezalia today?" she sweetly asked.

The girl smiled and nodded in response "Mom, why did you leave so early? I didn't even get to say bye." she asked as she pouted her lips at her mother. Shiho tilted her head and smiled.

"Sorry, sweetie, mommy had so much work left that she had to leave so early." she said as she placed a soft kiss on the girl's cheek "I promise I won't leave without letting you know again, okay?" she released her grip on Lizana's legs for a moment and held out her left pinkie to her. The girl held out her left pinkie as well and wrapped it around Shiho's.

Yzak had his hands on his pockets as he walked towards his wife and his daughter, tilting his head to the side, he looked towards the little girl "Lizana? Don't you have something to say to mom?" he asked

"Oh, I forgot. Happy Mother's Day, mom!" said the little girl as she quickly leaned over to give a light peck on Shiho's lips. The brunette smiled and kissed her daughter back and ruffled her hair, sending Lizana giggling.

Yzak slowly walked closer to Shiho and took his hands out of his pockets. His free hands eventually found their way behind Shiho's neck, and when he put them down, he smiled as he looked at the shiny silver necklace that ran from her neck down to her chest. "Happy Mother's Day, honey." he said.

"Yzak...I" Shiho was dumbfounded by what just happened. She could feel the cold metal on her bare neck and when she raised her left arm to her chest to see what it was, she looked down to see a silver Housenka flower hanging from the chains. She took it in her hand and looked at it intently. Shiho marveled at how the engravings on the flower were so detailed, and how it shone in the light.

"It's beautiful, right?" she was surprised to hear Lizana voice out her thoughts "Look at the back side, mom." she added.

Shiho did what her daughter told her to as another surprise waited for her. Shiho saw that the back side was flat, and that there were fine engravings on it.

_To the best mother in the world,_

_Shiho Hahnenfuss-Joule_

_Love, _

_~ Lizana_

As if he read her thoughts, Yzak had voiced out what was written on the necklace as Shiho had scanned through it. He smiled warmly as he looked at her expression. Shiho bit her lip as she was now on the edge of tears as she continued to take in what her husband and her daughter gave her. Much as she tried to fight it though, a single tear made its way down her cheeks, then another.

"Mom, are you crying? Did you not like it?" Lizana worryingly asked

"No, I just..." Shiho began in between sobs "I'm just so happy you two gave this!" she walked towards Yzak and hugged him, Lizana still in her arms. The little girl, switching glances between her parents, wrapped each of her arms around their heads. Yzak looked at Lizana for a moment, and noticed that she was wearing a full smile, when he looked over towards his wife, their eyes met, azure and velvet. "I love you." she said, looking deeply into Yzak's eyes.

Yzak simply responded by quickly leaning close to Shiho and letting their lips meet for a brief moment. "I love you too." he said as he pulled away.

Lizana tightened her arms around her parents' heads and smiled "Mom, dad, I love you!" she said. Yzak and Shiho chuckled "We love you too, sweetie." they said at the same time. The girl then put both her arms on her mother's shoulder. Yzak moved beside Shiho and let his fingers slip through the gaps on her free hand and held it.

"Now then, how are we going to celebrate mother's day?" he asked

"I didn't really have anything since leaving the house, so I'm practically..." Shiho's words were cut off by the growling of her stomach. Yzak and Lizana laughed as they heard it.

"I guess we're gonna have to eat first, huh? Why don't you pick the place?" asked Yzak as he looked around the second floor, which was where all of the mall's restaurants were located.

"I don't have anything in mind, how about you, sweetie?" Shiho looked over to her daughter for choices.

"Umm...that one! Let's go there!" Lizana pointed to a restaurant across the hall.

"Okay then, let's go." said Yzak as they started to walk towards the place where their daughter had pointed. The rest of the day went on happily, after they ate lunch, they went around the mall to spend time and even watched a movie together before they went home. The next day, Shiho went back to work with a refreshing smile on her face, this did not escape her coworkers' notice and when her fellow female engineers inquired about the silver Housenka necklace she wore proudly over her uniform, they all had one common reaction.

_"I didn't know Commander Joule was so sweet, you're really lucky to have someone like him, Major Hahnenfuss."_ was most of what was said.

Shiho couldn't be happier herself, she had done so much in her life, even had a few close calls to call her own during the war. Still, at the end of the day, everything was worth it, because every stress inducing experience at work became nothing when she got home, she has her princess', her daughter's smile to greet her as she got home, and the loving embrace of her king, her husband to make her forget everything else. It was her family that makes her more proud to be who she is.


End file.
